Chicken Tikka Masala

I never thought I could make Indian food at home that could rival any restaurant's recipe, but I think I did!  This relatively uncomplicated recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated.  My husband has offered to buy me diamonds for making this dish - it's that good!  It's certainly not healthy, but I'm sure I could play around a bit and make some substitutions for the heavy cream.  Don't worry so much about the whole milk yogurt, as most of it cooks off, but it prevents your chicken from burning.  I wouldn't substitute it with low fat or fat free since I think it'll be too thin to coat the chicken properly.

When I'm preparing a meal, I like to get all my ingredients prepped and ready to go before actually cooking.  It leaves less room for errors.

Here's the combination of garam masala, garlic, ginger, serrano chile and tomato paste.  Aren't the colors gorgeous?  You can alter the amount of Serrano chile to suit your tastebuds, but I like a little kick.

I was also able to make good use of the cilantro from my Aerogarden.  Check out how much I was able to harvest!

After sauteeing the onions until slightly golden, I added the garam masala mixture into the pot.  It smells heavenly!  Garam masala has a delicious scent of cinnamon.

Once this is fragrant, I added the crushed tomatoes, sugar and salt and let come to a boil.

Reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, you can make the chicken and prepare your rice.  I also like to serve this along with some naan.  These are Tandoori and Garlic Naan from Trader Joe's.

Once the sauce is cooked, I added the heavy cream, heated it through and added the cooked chicken, which my husband generously cut for me.  Stir in the cilantro and serve over a bed of basmati rice. 

Delicious! 

Printable Recipe

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Chicken
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon table salt
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts - I like to pound the chicken so it's not too thick.
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 fresh serrano chile, ribs and seeds removed, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, plus extra for garnish

In a small bowl, combine the cayenne, salt, cumin and coriander. Sprinkle the mixture onto both sides of the chicken and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. In a large bowl, combine oil, yogurt, garlic and ginger and refrigerate.
Heat oil over medium heat in large pot (I like my Dutch oven). Add the onions and cook about 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden. Add tomato paste, garlic, chile, ginger and garam masala and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add sugar, salt and crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. ** Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in heavy cream, return to a simmer, then remove from heat, keep the pan covered and set aside.

** At this point, I would start preparing the chicken. Heat the broiler. Dip chicken into the yogurt mixture and broil on a rack about 10-20 minutes, or until done. Flip the chicken halfway through cooking. Don't worry about it burning a little, that's why there's a nice yogurt coating to protect the chicken.

Once the chicken is done, cut it into chuncks and stir into sauce. Add cilantro. Serve over basmati rice.